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Doxologies to the Lord Jesus Christ

A. The Jehovah's Witnesses believe the Lord Jesus is not God and so therefore should never be worshiped.
1. Reverent adoration should be expressed only to God. To render worship to anyone or anything else would be a form of idolatry...True Christians do well to direct their worship only to Jehovah God, the Almighty (Awake! April 8, 2000, page 26+27). Since "every prayer is a form of worship" (The Watchtower, December 15, 1994, page 23) this would mean that praying to the Lord Jesus is not allowed.

B. A doxology is defined as:
1. A hymn or form of words containing an ascription of praise to God (Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, page 431, NY: Gramercy Books, c. 1996).
2. An ascription of praise or glory to God in song or prayer (The Zondervan Encyclopedia of the Bible 2:180, doxology, G.B. Funderburk).
3. The Watchtower says: Some older Bibles, such as the King James Version, end the Lord’s Prayer with what is known as a doxology (an expression of praise to God) (The Watchtower, Jehovah Provides Our Daily Needs, February 1, 2004).
4. It is quite clear that a doxology is a form of praise/prayer rendered unto God.

C. If the Lord Jesus were to receive just one doxology this would prove that He was worshiped as God for:
Doxologies, by their very nature, were addressed to the one God who alone is worthy of eternal glory and worship. Bauckman draws the only possible conclusion: "There could be no clearer way of ascribing to Jesus the worship due to God" (The Deity of Christ, Christopher W. Morgan, Robert A. Peterson page 163).
2. The Bible teaches that at least three doxologies were rendered unto Him and each one by a different author (2 Timothy 4:18; 2 Peter 3:18; Revelation 1:5-6).

E. 2 Timothy 4:18
But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that through me the proclamation might be fully accomplished, and that all the Gentiles might hear; and I was rescued out of the lion's mouth (2 Timothy 4:17, NASB).
The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed, and will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom; to Him be the glory
forever and ever. Amen. (2 Timothy 4:18, NASB)
1. Some may deny the Lord Jesus is the recipient of this doxology but the evidence given to us by Paul proves otherwise.
The Lord Jesus who "stood" with Paul in Acts 23:17 is the same Lord that has continually "stood" with him throughout his life (2 Timothy 4:17). Thus the same "Lord" (in reference to Jesus) is being referred to in both passages. Furthermore, the Lord (in reference to Jesus) has "rescued" (rhoumai) Paul from the lion's mouth (4:17) and will rescue (rhuomai) him form every evil deed (4:18).
Moreover, in verse 17 the word "strengthened" (endunamow) is used only two other times in Paul's' letters to Timothy and in both instances it is applied to the Lord Jesus (1 Timothy 1:12; 2 Timothy 2:1).
2. NIDNTT: According to 2 Tim. 4:18, Christ's kingdom is epouranios, i.e. it possesses heavenly authority and glory, and it is therefore superior to every temptation and persecution which the apostle has to suffer (2:196, Heaven, H. Bietenhard)
3. William Hendriksen: in 2 Tim. 4:18 the never-ceasing glory is ascribed to Christ, the Lord (Exposition of the Pastoral Epistles, page 328).
4. Patrick Fairbairn: The passage fitly ends with a doxology: to whom be glory for the ages of the ages - that is, for ever and ever (1 Tim. 1.17) - Amen- The context obliges us this ascription of divine glory with Christ - for it was He, doubtless, of whom the apostle spoke as standing by him, strengthening and delivering him (The Pastoral Epistles, page 402).
5. Robertson: To whom be the glory (ωι η δοχα — hōi hē doxa). No verb in the Greek. Paul's final doxology, his Swan Song, to Christhttp://www.studylight.org/com/rwp/view.cgi?bk=54&ch=4
6. I. Howard Marshall and Philip Towner: ho kurios (here and in v. 18) is Jesus rather than God, whose promise of help to Paul is given in Acts 23:11. (The Pastoral Epistles, page 824)

F. 2 Peter 3:18
but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen. (2 Peter 3:18, NASB)
1. NIDNTT: The letter closes with a prayer taking up again the theme of knowledge which doubtless includes that of the commandment of Christ: "But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen" (2 Pet. 3:18) (3:221, Redemption, J. Schneider, C. Brown).
2. Calvin: To him be glory. This is a remarkable passage to prove the divinity of Christ; for what is said cannot belong to any but to God alone. The adverb of the present time, now, is designed for this end, that we may not rob Christ of his glory, during our warfare in the world. He then adds, for ever, that we may now form some idea of his eternal kingdom, which will make known to us his full and perfect glory.http://www.studylight.org/com/cal/view.cgi?bk=60&ch=3
3. Whedon: To him be glory—That is, to Christ; an attribute never ascribed in doxology to any creature in scripture.http://www.studylight.org/com/whe/view.cgi?bk=60&ch=3
4. Norman Hillyer: To him be the glory is the only NT doxology (other than 2 Tim. 4:18; Rev. 1:6) indubitably ascribed to Jesus Christ alone. If the letter had been written later than Peter's lifetime, a more stereotyped liturgical doxology would have been expected. As it is, the expression is almost unique. Furthermore, the Greek behind the translation of the following phrase, and forever (eis hnmeran aiwnos, lit. "unto the eternal day"), is found in the NT only here. Before the end of the first century, stereotyped formulas to round off doxologies were commonplace, so Peter's unusual expressions imply an early rather than a late date for this letter and offer evidence for its authenticity (New International Biblical Commentary: 1 and 2 Peter, Jude, pages 226-227, c. 1992).

G. Revelation 1:5-6
and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood—and He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father—to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. (Revelation 1:5-6, NASB)
1. TDNT: It is used doxologically of the exalted Christ in Rev. 1:5 (1:489, archwn, Delling).
2. Robertson: On 1 Peter 4:11: "To whom (dative) is," that is to Jesus Christ the immediate antecedent, but in Romans 16:27; Jude 1:25 the doxology is to God through Christ. For other doxologies see 1 Peter 5:11; 2 Peter 3:18; Galatians 1:5; Romans 9:5; 11:36; Philippians 4:20; Ephesians 3:21 1 Timothy 1:17; 6:16; 2 Timothy 4:18; Hebrews 13:21; Revelation 1:6; 5:13; 7:12. The others addressed to Christ are 2 Peter 3:18; 2 Timothy 4:18; Revelation 1:6.http://studylight.org/com/rwp/view.c...=004&verse=011
3. Whedon: (Revelation 1:6): To him-This ascription of glory and dominion for ever presupposes true deity.http://www.studylight.org/com/whe/view.cgi?bk=65&ch=1
4. Vincent: Trench remarks upon the prominence of the doxological element in the highest worship of the Church as contrasted with the very subordinate place which it often occupies in ours. “We can perhaps make our requests known unto God, and this is well, for it is prayer; but to give glory to God, quite apart from anything to be directly gotten by ourselves in return, this is better, for it is adoration.”http://www.studylight.org/com/vnt/view.cgi?bk=65&ch=1
5. Richard Bauckham: The doxology addressed to Christ alone in 1:5b-6, one of three such doxologies in the New Testament (along with 2 Tim. 4:18; 2 Pet. 3:18), shows that John and his churches themselves practiced the worship of Jesus. Doxologies, with their confession that glory belongs eternally to the One who is addressed, were a Jewish form of praise to the one God. There could be no clearer way of ascribing to Jesus the worship due to God (The Theology of the Book of Revelation, page 61).

H. The Jehovah's Witnesses belief that the Lord Jesus is not to be worshiped runs contrary to the fact that He is the proper recipient of doxologies.